Air IndiaBased in Mumbai since 1932 (as Tata Airlines), Air India is the 16th largest airline in Asia. Running 159 aeroplanes, serving 25 destinations worldwide, and with its affiliated carriers, Air India serves over 100 cities. In 2010, Air India is expected to join Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance.

Jet AirwayOperating 85 aeroplanes (plus 44 on orders), Jet Airways is an airline based in Mumbai since 1993. It is India's second largest airline after Air India. Also, it is the market leader in domestic sector.

In July 2008, Which? magazine ranked Jet Airways as the world's best long-haul airline after Singapore Airlines.

In 2008, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair operated 138,000 flights, carrying nearly 25 million passengers and over 1.6 million tonnes of cargo and mail.

Flight Schedule Comparison

Air India

Jet Airway

Cathay Pacific

HKG -> DEL

Departure

17:20

13:35

22:20

Arrival

20:50

17:20

02:00*

Travelling Time

06 hrs 00

06 hrs 15

06 hrs 10

DEL -> HKG

Departure

9:00

22:45

23:50

Arrival

16:15

06:20*

07:15*

Travelling Time

04 hrs 45

05 hrs 05

04 hrs 55

Unless you've got an urgent meeting in the next day or you prefer not to take a whole day-off at the office, I do recommend you to go for Jet Airways. Personally, I hate to fly at wee hours or to be stuck in heavy traffic after landing.

Jet's cabin condition, food choice and service quality are equally good as Asiana and Emirate. The only shortfall is the departure gate. An airport bus transfer is alwasy required.

As a first-time visitor to India, I opted for the Golden Triangle of India.

The Golden Triangle comprises three of the most visited cities in the country's north-west. They are Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. As these three cities are connected with good roads where the roads form a roughly equilateral triangle with 200-250km along each side, the Golden Triangle becomes a classic introduction to India.

Delhi is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India. Agra was once the heart of the Moghul empire with the unparalleled beauty of the Taj Mahal. Jaipur, the capital of the largely desert state of Rajasthan.

Spending 8 days across these three beautiful cities, my trip was lovely and relaxing.

India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: भारत गणराज्य), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, and the second-most populous country in the world.

Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east, India has a coastline of 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi). It is bordered by Pakistan to the west; People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Indonesia in the Indian Ocean.

India is a republic consisting of 28 states and seven union territories with a parliamentary system of democracy. It is one of few democracies in Asia.

States:

1. Andhra Pradesh

15. Maharashtra

2. Arunachal Pradesh

16. Manipur

3. Assam

17. Meghalaya

4. Bihar

18. Mizoram

5. Chhattisgarh

19. Nagaland

6. Goa

20. Orissa

7. Gujarat

21. Punjab

8. Haryana

22. Rajasthan

9. Himachal Pradesh

23. Sikkim

10. Jammu and Kashmir

24. Tamil Nadu

11. Jharkhand

25. Tripura

12. Karnataka

26. Uttar Pradesh

13. Kerala

27. Uttarakhand

14. Madhya Pradesh

28. West Bengal

Union Territories:

A. Andaman and Nicobar Islands

B. Chandigarh

C. Dadra and Nagar Haveli

D. Daman and Diu

E. Lakshadweep

F. National Capital Territory of Delhi

G. Puducherry

The world's twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates, and the fourth largest in purchasing power. India is one of the fastest growing economies after its economic reforms since 1991. However, it still suffers from high levels of poverty, illiteracy, disease, and malnutrition.

A pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society, India is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

More than 9,000 wine-producing châteaux and 13,000 wine growers, Bordeaux is one of the most important wine-producing regions in the world, which produces one third of French wines of good quality.

photo credit: www.nicks.com.auThis map was originally published online at www.nicks.com.au(60 Appellations in Bordeaux)

At the moment, these 60 appellations are grouped under 6 families by their styles.

1. Bordeaux & Bordeaux Superieur (4)- Mostly made from Merlot-based blends. They show bright color, a clean deep, appealing red fruit nose and the classic balance of alcohol, acidity and tannin are the hallmarks

* Bordeaux* Bordeaux Supérieur* Bordeaux Clairet* Bordeaux Rosé

2. Medoc & Graves (10)- Primarily made from Cabernet Sauvignon. These wines are distinguished by blackcurrant aromas, balanced tannin and medium to high acidity

3. Cotes de Bordeaux (8)- The Côtes de Bordeaux vineyards (their name comes from the hillsides along the right bank of the Garonne and the Dordogne Rivers) are spread across Bordeaux, producing mostly Merlot-based wines. The various Côtes appellations of the Bordeaux region are light-to medium-bodied wines with a fine bouquet and color

4. St Emilion, Pomerol & Fronsac (10)- Primarily made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc. These wines are deep in color with structure combined with a distinctive velvety texture. They are medium-to full-bodied and can be enjoyed young or aged to bring out their full complexity

Google Chrome Frame is an early-stage open source plug-in that seamlessly brings Google Chrome's open web technologies and speedy JavaScript engine to Internet Explorer. With Google Chrome Frame, you can:

1/ Start using open web technologies - like the HTML5 canvas tag - right away, even technologies that aren't yet supported in Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8.

2/ Take advantage of JavaScript performance improvements to make your apps faster and more responsive.

So how does this work? Basically, it’s just a plug-in that creates a new frame inside of IE that is the Chrome browser. The plug-in itself is lightweight (around 500K or so, I’m told), but then it must download around 10 MB of Chrome-related data to work correctly on a machine. The look will be so seamless that a user shouldn’t realize they’re not simply browsing with their regular old version of IE, albeit a much faster and more compliant one, as told.

In 1961, Zurich-based Desco von Schulthess AG acquired an assembly facility in Saignelégier, a town in the Canton of Jura, where it produced private label watches for the national and international market.

In 1975, the company introduced its first watch under the name of Maurice Lacroix, and launched its very first model in Austria. However, the name "Maurice Lacroix" does not refer to an actual person, and it was invented for marketing purposes.

They are one of the few Swiss watch brands that produces its own cases in their own workshops; eventually, up to 300 different parts are carefully hand-assembled by the watchmakers into the individually refined inner workings of a mechanical watch.

In spite of the company's rapid change and growth, one thing has always remained the same: their love of design, perfection, and fine materials.

In the fall of 2001, Maurice Lacroix S.A., previously a division of Desco von Schulthess AG, became an independent company.

In 2006 with the chronograph ML 106 calibre in the Masterpiece Le Chronographe, Maurice Lacroix has started to produce its own complex movement components, and the brand has finally taken its place in the exclusive club of Swiss manufacture brands.

The brand is represented in 3,700 selected specialist shops in more than 60 countries around the globe. Around 150,000 top-quality timepieces leave the Saignelégier facility each year.

Today, Maurice Lacroix is one of the most successful young Swiss watch brands, both nationally and internationally, and is represented in 45 countries all over the world. The company is one of the few independent Swiss watch manufacturers.

The word comes from a Latin word, tyrius. It means "cloth" in English.

Tartan is a fabric which is woven with an assortment of stripes in varying widths and colors set at right angles to each other. The distinctive checked pattern of tartan is closely associated with Scotland and Ireland, both of which have been weaving tartan for centuries.

As tartans are relatively easy to weave and also quite striking, most cultures do demonstrate a history of weaving textiles with checked patterns, too.

Burberry Check since 1924The first use of the Burberry design was said to have been by an Italian luggage manufacturer (John Bain reported that this came from David Doig, a well-known and very knowledgeable man from Scotch House in London). It has become so much part of the Burberry image that it has been trademarked and can now be regarded as a Corporate tartan.

DAKS Check since 1976.

John Emary was a tailor in Mayfair London in 1853, who perfected the manufacture of water proof woollen material. In the same year, he changed the name of his business to Aquascutum (in Latin Aqua = water, Scutum = shield).

HM King Edward VII was Aquascutum's first royal client, ordering an Aquascutum coat in the Prince of Wales check.

In 1897 (some time after Gieves and Hawkes), Aquascutum was granted its first Royal Warrant (a mark of recognition to companies who have regularly supplied goods or services for at least five years to members of the Royal Family).

Through the striking executions on a simple idea (fitting 2 movements into 1 case), Limelight Twice has two complete faces to display two different time zone. The off-centred dial design helps to keep the thickness of the watch at 7.6 mm.

Escada was once one of the biggest fashion houses in the world. However, its popularity and earnings were kept declining in recent years.

After the Group loss after taxes amounted to -70.3 million euros in fiscal 2007/2008 and failed to execute a rescue plan in the earlier time, insolvency became inevitable. Escada AG had filed for bankruptcy on 13th August, 2009

At the moment, ESCADA AG's national and international subsidiaries are not initially affected by the insolvency of the parent company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Founded by Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley in 1976. It operates 182 of its own shops and 225 franchise shops/corners in more than 60 countries.

As the maker of the first wrist chronograph and the first fully automatic chronograph, Breitling is practically synonymous with chronograph. In celebrating its 125th anniversary, Breitling is asserting itself by launching the first in-house automatic chronograph movement, Caliber B01 in May 2009.

Now, Chronomat B01 is available for all iPhone users virtually. The Chronomat B01 application provides a functional and detailed presentation of the latest Breitling chronograph, entirely developed and crafted in the brand workshops.

A precise description, technical data, a portfolio, a video and 360° views give an extremely clear idea of the exceptional nature of the new Chronomat.

Also, the application is equipped with a unique configurator serving to visualize hundreds of possible customized versions of the model.

The point-of-sale location-tracking system enables all devotees of mechanical chronographs to localize the nearest authorized Breitling retailers.

Special EditionA cluster of eight alligator logos instead of the usual one logo on the chest is produced for both men and women. 20,000 pieces are available

Having great success in the past series, Lacoste is bringing us another surprise in the fourth Holiday Collector's Series.

Super Limited Edition

The Campanas + Lacoste series features shirts with arrangements of embroidered reptiles. They are references to both Lacoste’s crocodile motif and the designers’ Alligator Chair which is upholstered with cuddly toy alligators.

Alligator Chair by Campanas

Wow! Hundreds of Lacoste's Alligators!

The super limited edition will be made to order only with up to 12 men's and 12 women's editions created, it is hand-crafted completely from crocodile logos, recalling the lace work of Northern Brazil.

Beerenauslese is a dessert wine-style late harvest wine. It is made from individually selected fully botrytis-affected grapes that have shriveled about half way.

It is not made in many vintages because conditions need to be ideal for the grapes to ripen to this extent, so these wines are very hard to find and expensive. They are usually packaged in 375ml bottles, and are incredibly rich with creamy honey and raisin flavors.

Trockenbeerenauslese is also known as TBA for short. It is the highest category in the Prädikatswein category of the German wine classifications. The grapes are individually picked and shrivelled with noble rot, often to the point of appearing like a raisin.

As the grapes are dried by botrytis and very little juice is yielded, this wine is not produced in many vintages. They are dependent on weather conditions, which determine whether botrytis wines will even be possible in a given year. Producing these dessert wines is expensive and labor-intensive. Ultra-rich and deep golden orange in color, it is the liquid gold in a bottle!